Vending machine



June 6, 1950 R. H. SUMMERFIELD VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 24, 1947 INVENTOR ROY H. SUMMERF/ELD ATTORNE Y Patented June 6, i950 VENDING MACHINE Roy H. Summerfield, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Application September 24, 1947, Serial No. 775,813

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to improvements in vending machines which are particularly adapted for vending newspapers and. the like. 7

The objects of the invention are to provide a mechanism whereby a stack of newspapers to be dispensed are moved to present each one progressively into a given position; to provide means for lifting the foremost paper from the stack and for delivering the lifted paper into a receiving rack in response to the rocking movement of a shaft.

The invention contemplates an inclined bed plate for receiving a stack of newspapers, and means for supporting the newspapers at a suitable angle for dispensing, and means for progressively removing a newspaper from the front of the stack.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the invention showing the cover in open position.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the dispensing mechanism.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the article lifting mechanism.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

The numeral I indicates a cabinet having a base 2, side walls 3, front wall 4 and a hingedly mounted top cover 5. The top cover 5 is provided with a window 1 through which a purchaser m'ay assure himself as to papers being available and read a portion of the title sheet of the paper therein displayed.

Intermediate the height of the cabinet I is an inclined bed plate 9 which extends downwardly towards the front wall 4 and connects with an apron In which is steepl inclined downwardly. The apron I0 terminates in a channel l2 which is adapted to arrest the downward movement of a paper dispensed from the machine and is provided with a gap |4 intermediate the length of the channel to afford access to the lower edge of a paper to lift it out of said channel. The upper portion of the front wall 4 forms a panel l6 on which a portion of a coin lock mechanism ll of any suitable type is mounted. A horizontal rectangular housing 20 is mounted between the side walls 3 and is provided with a removable top closure 2| for excluding the mechanism therein from view through the window I.

Mounted within the housing 20 is a horizontal shaft 23 which is rocked through gears 24 and 25 from a stub shaft 26, which stub shaft is fitted with a hand crank 2! projecting from the right side wall 3 of the casing and is appropriately freed for operation by the coin lock mechanism I! in response to the insertion of a coin. The shaft 23 is fitted with two or more cranks 29 having crank pins 30 upon which fingers 3| are rockingly mounted. Each of the fingers 3| is provided with a pointed end 33 which is normally retracted within the housing and is adapted to project through a slot 34 formed in the front wall 36 of the housing 20. The inner end of the finger 3| extends beyond its crank pin 30 and is apertured as at 38 to engage a tension spring 39 which is anchored to a pin 40 carried by the crank 29 adjacent the shaft 23, which spring tends to urge the point 33 of the finger away from the shaft 23 and towards the papers disposed upon the bed plate 9.

Adjustably mounted on the inner face of the wall 36 of the housing 20 is a gate 43, having slots 44 which register horizontally with the slots 34 of the wall, the base of these slots, indicated by the numeral 45, act as stops to limit the downward swing of the point 33 of the fingers 3| about their crank pins 30. The gates are held in adjusted position by thumb nuts 41 or by other appropriate means. The fingers 3| are retracted to the position shown in Figures 3 and 4 by any appropriate spring means, the means here shown being a tension spring 49 anchored at one end to the base of the housing 20 as at 50 and at the upper end to an arm 5| extending radially from the stub shaft 26.

A plate or follower having rollers 56 at its lower rear edge is mounted upon the bed plate 9 for movement therealong. The plate 55 extends substantially from side to side of the interior of the casing and is supported in inclined position by a pair of legs 51 which are hingedly connected to said plate adjacent its upper end as at 58 and are hingedly connected to the bed plate 3 adjacent their lower ends as at 59. At the front edge of the bed plate 9 a plurality of thin stops 6| are provided, which engage the lower edge of each newspaper as it slides along the bed plate in advance of the follower 55. The follower 55 assumes an inclined position when in its rearmost position, substantially as shown in Figure 3, which is such as to prevent the newspapers supported against it from curling over towards the front wall 4 and as each paper is removed the angle between said follower and the legs 51 will become less acute.

In operation when a coin has been inserted into the coin mechanism the hand crank 21 is rocked, imparting a clockwise rocking motion to the cranks 29, as seen in Figure 4, causing the points 33 of the fingers 31 to swing outwardly and upwardly through the slots 34- in the wall of the housing 29 and along the path shown in dotted line in Figure 4, to engage the foremost paper on the bed plate 9. As soon as said paper is raised above the stops 6|, the forward movement of the follower 55, stimulatedv by the tendency of the triangular'structure formed by the follower 55 and the legs 51 to collapse or spread causes the stack of newspapers to move forward and bring the paper immediately behind the-onelifted by the fingers, into contact with the stops Bl, so that as the fingers 3| are retracted, incl dental to the reverse rocking movement of the shaft 23, the foremost paper is lowered between the stops BI and the front wall 36 of the housing 20 and as soon as the points 33 are withdraw-n from contact with said paper, it will drop between the walls 4 and til-into thechannel I2: from whence it canbe removed by the purchaser.

What I. claim as my invention is:

A vending:machinecomprising a casing having an article delivery opening in one side, a bed plate mounted within: the casing; having a free edge abovethe-delivery-opening, a follower adapted for automatiamovement across the; bed plate towards its free: edge to move a stack. of articles mounted adjacent their rear ends upon a crank and being slidably supported adjacent their pointed ends upon a horizontal member, manually operable means for rocking the cranks in one direction to move said points into engagement with an adjacent article and lift it above the stops, and means for retracting said points to permit said lifted article to fall towards the delivery opening.

ROY H. SUMMERFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The .fol'luwingxreferenc'es are of record. inv the file of this, patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,324,415 Smith Dec.. 9, 1919 1,662,329 Peterson Mar. 13, 1928 1,882,261 Schofield Oct. 11, 1932 2,444,389 Wagner June 29, 1943 

